What Associations Can Learn from Potatoes

In 1770s France, the potato had an image problem.

It had been banned in several regions. Blamed for leprosy. Dismissed as peasant food - something you fed to pigs, not people. The Parisian bourgeoisie wanted nothing to do with it.

Antoine-Augustin Parmentier knew this was wrong. He'd survived Prussian captivity largely on potatoes and understood their nutritional value better than almost anyone in France. He had the evidence. He had the argument. He could have published pamphlets, held public information sessions, appealed to common sense.

He did none of that.

Instead, he planted a field of potatoes outside Paris and posted royal guards around it during the day - then quietly withdrew them at night. He persuaded King Louis XVI to wear a potato flower in his lapel. Marie Antoinette wore them in her hair. He hosted lavish dinner parties for scientists, philosophers, and the influential thinkers of the day, serving potato dishes to people who would carry the conversation far beyond his table.

Within a generation, the potato was a French staple.

Parmentier didn't inform people into change. He engineered conditions for it.

That distinction is worth sitting with - because it has real implications for associations.

The Instinct Most Organisations Share

When associations face a perception challenge - whether it's members reconsidering the value of renewing, a profession navigating a public image shift, or a policy position that isn't gaining traction - the instinct is almost always the same.

Communicate it clearly.

Publish the research. Send the email. Update the website. Restate the case with more precision, more frequency, more supporting evidence.

It's a reasonable instinct. Associations are built on expertise, and sharing that expertise is genuinely part of the job. 

But Parmentier's story offers a useful additional lens: sometimes the most powerful move isn't a better argument. It's a better-designed experience of discovery. 

People don't always change their perceptions because they've received better information. They change because they've had a different experience, because people they trust have modelled a different view, or because something shifted in how they see themselves in relation to the issue.

That's not a criticism of how associations communicate. It's an invitation to add another tool to the kit.

The Parmentier Playbook

Parmentier's approach wasn't accidental - it was a masterclass in perception change. And it maps directly onto the challenges associations face.

Make it desirable before you make it available. The guards on the potato field created perceived scarcity and value before a single argument was made. Associations often do the reverse - making everything available to everyone, then wondering why it feels undervalued. Selective access, invitation-only pilots, and early access for engaged members can create the kind of desire that open access rarely does.

Use the right messengers - not the loudest ones. Parmentier didn't convince farmers. He convinced the King - and let the King's lapel do the talking. In associations, peer influence almost always outweighs organisational communication. A respected member telling their network "this is worth your time" will land harder than any email from the CEO. Identify your equivalent of the King's lapel, and invest there.

Engineer discovery rather than announce arrival. People who find something feel differently about it than people who are told about it. The potato theft was never accidental - it was designed. Associations can create similar conditions: content that surfaces at the right moment, events that introduce an idea through a side door, partnerships that expose your work to new audiences who weren't actively looking for you.

Let the dinner party do the work. Parmentier's gatherings weren't about convincing guests - they were about creating advocates. Every sector has its equivalent: the roundtable, the advisory group, the invited contributor. Bring the right people inside the tent, give them a genuine role, and let them carry the story out. People advocate far more effectively for things they feel ownership of.

Be patient with the timeline. Perception change doesn't happen in a campaign. It happens over seasons. Parmentier worked this problem for years. Associations with a genuine perception challenge need a strategy that runs across a sustained period - not a communications push tied to the next annual conference.

What This Looks Like in Practice

The Parmentier principles apply whether you're trying to shift how members experience your value, or how an external audience understands your profession.

If the challenge is member perception, the question to ask isn't "how do we communicate our benefits better?" It's "what would make a member feel like they'd be missing something important if they left?" That's a design question, not a communications one. It's about what members experience in their first 30 days, which peers they see endorsing your work, and what they can access that non-members simply can't.

If the challenge is public or sector perception, the question isn't "what do we need people to understand?" It's "who do we need to influence first, and who will they influence next?" Find your equivalent of the King. Make it worth their while to carry the message. Build the conditions for advocacy rather than waiting for comprehension.

In both cases, the work happens upstream of the communication. The communication is the multiplier - but only once you've built something worth multiplying.

A Question to Consider

Parmentier had the evidence. He had the facts. He had a perfectly rational argument for why France should be eating potatoes.

He set it aside and built desire instead.

What perception is your association trying to shift right now - and are you writing pamphlets, or planting fields?

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